Chapter One

Seren

"Welcome to Starlight Bakery. My name is Seren. What can I get for you?" I asked, a smile plastered on my lips. The corner felt the aching of my tiredness.

"Mhm." The older woman looked over the glass case to my right of the pastel pink counter where I stood. "I think I will take six of your donuts. My grandkids will love them."

"Of course. What kind can I get for you?" I slipped on plastic gloves. The bright lights of Starlight Bakery burned my dried eyes.

"One Oreo hot fudge, one strawberry frosted, one cinnamon cereal, and one plain glazed… and…" she said, scanning through the donuts left for the day.

My fingers carefully squeezed the donuts into a small box for six.

The Oreo hot fudge was filled with delicious chocolate fudge and topped with an Oreo and crumbs on vanilla icing. Strawberry Frosted had a glazed, hard-shelled caramelized strawberry on top of soft pink frosting.

Cinnamon Cereal made my mouth water when I picked it up. It was my favorite. It had crumbs of Cinnamon Toast Cereal all over the vanilla icing with a drizzle of caramel. Our award- winning glazed was anything but plain, but it didn't come with any toppings, just a sweet icing glaze.

"And… What is also a good one?"

"Cinnamon Roll is a great one," I answered with a beaming smile. It was a donut but made with cinnamon roll dough. The top was frosted white, pipped in a swirl with cinnamon dashed on top.

I swallowed the saliva welling up in my mouth. I could almost taste it, just by looking at it.

"Perfect then. I wanted to give them a variety to taste," she said, smiling at me.

I rang her up after bagging her donut box and told her the total, and she was on her way, giddy to give her grandkids a hyper night.

"When's the last time you got any sleep?" a voice asked beside me.

I twirled around, pink strawberry hair following my movement. "Why? Did I say something wrong?" And just like that, the conversation that the lady and I had was out of my head.

Had I said something wrong? I know that sometimes my words can get jumbled because of the lack of sleep. It was like my brain had no more battery juice left.

Bex, my co-worker and best friend, raised a brow at me. Her arms crossed over her chest and pushed up her breasts through her 90's style apron. Hers was striped black and white with the Starlight Bakery logo in twinkling light on the sternum. The pinup girl style suited Bex and her pin-straight but curled-at-the-bottom black hair. "No, but you look like shit."

Scoffing, I rolled my eyes, moving through the swinging door that separates the bakery's front and back. "Oh, yeah. Thanks, bestie."

Bex was my best friend turned employee turned manager. She was the only employee that could tell me I look like shit and get away with it.

Huffing and puffing, I grabbed the bowls from our long prep table and took them to the huge sink. Some chocolate clung to the sides, the little bit I couldn't spatula out. I needed to make sure that this station was ready for the morning. I had cakes, cupcakes, donuts, and cookies all to make.

It sounded overwhelming to do—the hundreds of bakery stuff I make daily—but this was my dream. To have my own bakery, and I was willing to spend all day, every day inside of it. I would do the tens of thousands of dishes we do daily. I would deal with the customers complaining about prices and "Can I speak to your manager" bullshit.

Even though I was the owner, I'd still get Bex for them.

"How about I come in early tomorrow, so you can sleep in? I'll do the prep," she said, grabbing the lid and placing it on the sugar container.

"What's in it for you?" I deadpanned. Bex loved her morning sleep up until the afternoon.

She scoffed, hand moving to her chest. "I am offended. I am doing this for you."

My brow cocked as I leaned on the stainless-steel prep table.

"I just… I have a date. But you seriously look like you haven't had sleep in days, so it's perfect. I can open and you can close after you sleep in."

My mind wandered, and I couldn't remember the last time I had solid sleep or slept in at all. I sighed.

"Bad dreams?"

"Sleep paralysis," I corrected, glancing at the only other worker in the bakery. "It was more than a bad dream ."

The worker, Stephanie, nodded. "That shit sucks. I get it here and there, but you get it every night?"

I nodded. "Every single night. And it feels like I am going to die. I can't die in my sleep. I'm too young and just got my dream of Starlight Bakery."

Starlight Bakery had only been open for a year, but soon after, the sleep paralysis started. I had visited sleep therapists, but nothing seemed to help. None of the medicines ever kept that shadow demon away from me.

"You won't die, Seren," Stephanie said sympathetically. "Lots of people have it."

I shook my head. "It takes a toll on your body after a while. At one of the appointments, they had to wake me up because they thought I was going to have a heart attack."

"What are you going to do?"

I pushed some of my pink curls back. I knew I didn't look good with bags under my eyes, and the light that used to be there sucked away to nothing. "I sleep, but the moment I feel it coming, I wake myself up."

"So, you never get good sleep? Never get to the REM part of sleep?" Bex asked.

"That's when it happens, during the REM," I said, looking at her. "You can come in early tomorrow, help me with prep, and I'll take the rest of your shift."

She nodded, a small smile on her lips. A soft phone alarm went off, telling us it was already closing time. Bex moved to the front of the store, turning off our pink neon open sign. Then, she unplugged all the twinkling fairy lights that we had around the pastel pink bakery.

With a sigh, I gloved up and packed the rest of the bakery stuff we had into a big, pink box. There wasn't too much left, all fitting in my twenty-four-donut box, but it was enough. The mornings always cleared us out, leaving a few for the rest of the day.

I packed up the rest, taking the rouge red velvet cupcake in a small separate box for me.

"See you tomorrow, boss," Bex called, hanging up her apron in the kitchen. "Be careful tonight."

I nodded. "Always."

Once everything was done, I locked up and left with the box. I drove down to the bridge's underpass and handed out the goodies to a group of homeless people. It wasn't real food, though sometimes I gave them that, but sometimes sweets were a nice treat for them.

And no one ever complained to me, they just took the ones they wanted.

"Thank you, Seren," one of the older guys I saw often said. Frank . He looked like he was doing good these days, staying away from drugs to get his life back in order.

"You're welcome, Frank. Stay safe tonight."

"You, too!" he said, lifting the donut as a cheer as he walked back to his cover.

After everyone was gone, I drove to my home in radio silence. It felt nice to be able to give them something and it made me realize I had so much, like a home to go to and a bed to sleep in, even if there wasn't much sleeping done in it.

My headlights lit up my garage door as I pulled my car into my driveway. I stared at it for a moment, feeling grateful that I had a safe shelter to go home to. It felt like a luxury for which I was thankful for.

Some people like Frank had made mistakes. I was grateful I was never put in their situations because I wouldn't be sure of where I'd be. Maybe I would be on the street, too, trying to stay warm.

I got out of my car, grabbed my cupcake, and headed inside. Bag over shoulder, I unlocked the door just to relock it.

My kitchen was off to my right-hand side. I placed my bag on the marble, white island in the middle of the room. Flicking on the lights, my new silver appliances lit up. From the cabinet fridge, I pulled out some leftover Chinese food and heated it up in the microwave.

Meowing, my cat jumped on the marble counters. I smiled softly, rubbing her mixed brown and black fur. "Did you have a good day, Toebean?"

She purred under my touch, lifting her head for more rubbings. I will take that as a "yes."

Once my food was done, I leaned against the island, eating in silence. My home was usually quiet, but I didn't mind it. It was a nice way to decompress after a day of non-stop customers. After my food, I dove into the red velvet cupcake, moaning at my creation. The red cake was still soft, while the cream cheese frosting just melted in my mouth. My recipes were pretty damn good, taking years to perfect.

"Fuck," I muttered, eating the last bit. That was delicious.

I cleaned up my little mess, washed my dishes, and then moved upstairs. Turning to the right, I saw my bed in plain sight of the hall. It called to me, my body aching to give in to the sleep. But with a sigh, I moved into the bathroom straight ahead.

Sleeping felt like dying for me, fear terrorizing my whole body. It felt too real: the shadowy monster that appeared and paralyzed me.

I drew a hot bath, deciding that I didn't have the energy to stand and wash myself. While it was filling up with bubbles, I set up my tablet on the sink and started playing reruns of Grey's Anatomy.

Once done, I stripped and sunk my body into the hot water, letting the bubbles cover my big breasts.

For a moment, my eyes closed. The hot water soothed my aching body and comforted me… enough for… me to…

Don't fall asleep.

I jerked awake, water splashing. I couldn't sleep. I wasn't ready to face this monster.

My eyes moved to the tablet, where I watched the show. Steam was all around me, soothing my tired body. I moved around all day, constantly rushing to get things done. Still wouldn't change it for the world. This was what I was made to do. The smiles people had on their faces when they had my baked goods made me smile.

I let out a yawn, sinking further into the water. My eyes felt heavy, but I fought to keep them open. After this, I would get a coffee to stay up a bit and then fight to keep myself out of REM. That was my routine.

It was exhausting, and I hated it.

My eyes closed momentarily as I enjoyed the warmth surrounding me. Within seconds, I heard scratching against a wall.

Fuck, was Toebean locked out and trying to get in?

My eyes opened, and I froze… Well, I couldn't move. The water around me was now icy cold, bubbles completely gone, revealing my naked body under the water.

My eyes moved to the tablet, seeing it was playing an episode further ahead than I was.

Did… I fall asleep? Am I asleep right now?

The light flickered off and on, and my eyes bounced to the hall, seeing him there. My heartbeat picked up, and I swallowed.

White glowing eyes stared at me, shadows running from his body. It looked like he was on fire, but the live, flickering flames were black. He blinked, one clawed hand grabbing the door frame to enter the bathroom.

Fear rushed down my spine, and I tried everything to just move one of my toes or fingers. Anything.

Please wake up.

His claws scratched against the paint, sending a shiver through me.

I closed my eyes.

Wake up, Seren. Wake up.

My heart pounded on my chest. Fear ran icy through my veins. I can't breathe. I can't think. I'm going to die.

Warm breath brushed right against my face.

My eyes snapped open.

He was leaning over the side of the bathtub, glowing white eyes locked onto my face.

I wanted to scream, but my throat would make no noise. My eyes welled up with tears as his claws dipped into the water.

Then I felt him, a sharp nail right against my upper thigh.

This was too much.

Finally, my toe twitched, and my body jerked completely awake. White hot pain rushed through my body as I scrambled out of the bath. Snatching my towel from over the door, I wrapped it around my body, flicking on the lights.

What sleep paralysis demon can do that? Turn off the lights?

I let out a shaky breath, unable to slow down my heartbeat. I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing my hair was half wet from the tub and tears were running over my round cheeks.

My body was in pain. It always ached more when I fought to wake up. But my thigh was burning like there was a fire under it.

I looked down, seeing red blood rushing down my legs, mixing with the water. I gasped, using another towel to mop up the blood. There in my ivory white skin were four claw marks from my sleep paralysis monster.